The Champion of Skyrim
by Michelle Clover
Summary: Heartbroken after the events of Kirkwall and her breakup with Anders, Adelyn Hawke hires a ship's captain to take her to a new land so that she can leave Thedas and her past behind her. Things take a terrible turn when she loses her memory after being thrown overboard and discovers she can absorb the souls of dragons. NSFW


_Ten years, a hundred years from now, someone like me will love someone like you, and there will be no templars to tear them apart._

Those words still felt like a dull knife twisting in Adelyn's heart. It was just moments before the final battle against the templars began and she told Anders it was over after he asked her to run away with him. When he said those words to her, she wanted to tell him, no scream at him that it wasn't the templars who tore them apart. It was him. And it wasn't even about his destroying the Chantry. It was over the deceit and the emotional blackmail. She felt used and betrayed by the one person she loved above all others, the one person with whom she vowed to spend the rest of her life.

Instead of yelling, Adelyn remained silent and let him finish speaking, then she waited for several awkward moments. She waited for him to tell her he loved her. She waited for him to say he was sorry. She waited for one final kiss goodbye. What she received was nothing save a tremendous dark hole where her heart once lay beating.

During the battle, Adelyn fought harder than she ever remembered fighting before. Her magical flame burned hotter and her ice colder than it ever had in the past. Her anger at Anders, at Meredith, at the whole situation drove her forward, decimating any who dared to get in her way. A lifetime of pain and loss fueled the fire within and woe be to anyone who stood in her way.

Once the battle was at an end and Meredith had been slain, Cullen allowed Adelyn and her companions to walk away, a fact for which the mage was grateful. She had always liked the Knight-Captain, especially once she discovered the truth of his relationship with her distant cousin, Serena Amell. He and the Hero of Ferelden had married mere days before she lost her life slaying the archdemon and because of that fact, he always looked out for both her and her friends. Adelyn only wished she had a way to thank him for his kindness and mercy.

Hours after escaping Kirkwall, when Adelyn and her companions were well into the foothills of the Vinmark Mountains, her brother Carver left to return to the Grey Wardens. The rest of them continued on in relative silence. The reticence continued after they made camp for the evening. Even Merrill remained quiet as they sat around the fire during the evening meal, avoiding eye contact with each other. It seemed that each of them were lost in their own dark thoughts.

The following morning, just after dawn, Aveline and her husband Donnic said their goodbyes before setting out for Ostwick to find a ship that would take them to Ferelden. Knowing that she could not return to her job as Guard Captain, the older woman made the decision to return to her homeland where she hoped that she and Donnic would be able to find work in Denerim.

As the day wore on, the remaining six trudged further into the mountain range. Slowly, the laconism between Adelyn's friends turned to idle conversation, but neither she nor Anders joined in on the banter. Adelyn expected that her former lover would have taken off in the middle of the night, but he remained with her and the rest. He did not speak a word, choosing to walk in mute saturninity far behind the others. Over the next several days, Adelyn almost felt sorry for Anders and considered speaking to him on several occasions, but every time she looked at him, she could feel bitterness rise within her like waves of bile trying to escape through her throat.

Two weeks passed and their supplies had become nearly nonexistent, when Isabela and Fenris approached Adelyn. It seemed that the pirate had some contacts in Wycome who would be able to help her procure a ship and because of the budding relationship between the two of them, Fenris decided to travel with Isabela. A few days later, Varric made the decision to travel to Cumberland alone, leaving only Merrill and Anders at Adelyn's side.

Anders continued his silence, while Merrill and Adelyn largely ignored him. At first, Merrill attempted to start conversations with the healer, but he would only answer with a shrug, a nod or a shake of his head. After a few days of that, the Dalish woman gave up trying completely. It wasn't until the following week that Anders finally broke his quietude. It was after a meager supper of wild hare and the three companions were just getting ready for bed, when he approached Adelyn and pulled her to the side. His usually warm amber eyes seemed hollow, almost dead and dark circles had formed under them. She had seen him at his moodiest and most melancholy when they were living together, but it was nothing compared to what she saw within him that night. For several long, uncomfortable minutes, he stared into her deep blue eyes before slowly, tentatively lifting his hand to touch her cheek. A sad smile formed at the corners of his mouth.

"Every fiber of my being wants to drop to my knees and beg your forgiveness, Addie. After everything we've shared over the past four years, it's hard to just…" He sighed heavily. "Anyway, I just wanted to thank you for allowing me to travel with you this far, but…but I think it is time for me to leave as well. I am going to take a few hours to rest, but I will most likely be gone before you wake in the morning." Adelyn could only nod as she felt tears forming in her eyes. She had ended it. She had told him it was over, but it didn't make it any easier when she knew she would never see him again. Four years. Four long years of love and laughter, of pain and tears. To have it all just die in that manner was eating away at her. Anders used his thumb to wipe away a droplet that had escaped onto her cheek.

"I just wanted to tell you goodbye…and that I love you. I will always love you, Addie."

With those words, he lowered his mouth to hers for one last, gentle kiss before heading to his tent and crawling inside. Adelyn could only stand there with her fingertips pressed to her lips where his had been only moments before. For the first time since her mother died, she finally allowed her tears to flow freely as she turned her back and walked to her own shelter where she eventually cried herself to sleep.

When she awoke the next morning, she found Anders and all of his belongings gone. She was glad to at least have Merrill still with her. Uncharacteristic for the normally chatty elf, Merrill listened in silence as Adelyn poured out her heart and hugged her tightly once she was finished speaking.

After another month of wandering around in the Vinmarks, Merrill finally broached the subject of the future. "Hawke…you know we can't just stay here in the mountains forever. It will be winter soon, and even in the Free Marches it gets cold up here."

Adelyn nodded. "I know. I'm just not sure where we should go from here."

"Well, where do you want to go?"

The other woman chuckled bitterly. "If I had my way…I would leave Thedas completely."

"Is that really what you want?" the Dalish woman questioned with a curious expression.

Adelyn shrugged. "Sure. Why not? There's nothing here for me anymore."

Merrill's brow creased in thought for several moments. "Actually, there might be a way for that to happen."

"I thought you destroyed that mirror," the other woman retorted.

The elf shook her head. "I'm not talking about the eluvian. Isabela once told me a story about a ship's captain in Seere who said that he came from another land, a land beyond Thedas where cats and lizards were as big as humans and walked on two legs. They even dressed like humans and talked…and carried weapons."

"It was just a story, Merrill" Adelyn reasoned.

"I don't know, Hawke. Isabela seemed to think it was true."

"Then why hasn't anyone else ever heard of this place? Why wouldn't ships go back and forth between Thedas and that land all of the time. Why have we never seen such creatures?"

"Because of the Wall of Storms. Any other ship that has tried to breach the Wall has become lost, never to be heard from again. This captain is the only one who has ever been able to do it, according to Isabela anyway."

Adelyn pondered her friend's words for several minutes. She would have given anything at that moment to get out of Thedas, to leave it all behind. If only it were true. But it couldn't be true. Finally she shrugged. "It's just a story, Merrill."

"Maybe," the Dalish woman conceded. "But what would it hurt to try to find this man? It isn't as if we have anything better to do."

"I suppose you're right," Adelyn agreed reluctantly. "Besides, I've always wanted to see Rivain."


End file.
